Art Institute of Chicago

Woman's Day Dress

Made in France with cotton imported from India

Date

c. 1800

Medium

Cotton, hand-spun, hand-woven plain weave called mulmul or muslin

Culture

India

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Indian cotton weavers have been creating delicate, sheer textiles for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Elite men and women on the Indian subcontinent valued such fine, cotton muslin—a specialty of Bengal that was made entirely by hand—for fashionable clothing. White cotton dresses first appeared in French fashion in the 1780s; the simplicity of the delicate column-like silhouette was seen as an ideal expression of Neoclassical femininity, a look inspired by Classical Greek and Roman statuary. The quality of this cotton was nearly impossible to replicate using European industrial methods, adding to its cachet.

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